Volkswagen to Centralize Software Development in New Business Unit
November 21 2019 - 5:41AM
Dow Jones News
By Max Bernhard
Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE) said Thursday that it would centralize
software development in a new business unit as part of its effort
to boost the share of car software made in-house.
The 'Car.Software organization' will bundle relevant associates
and subsidiaries within the twelve brand car making group and will
operate as an independent business unit, starting next year,
Volkswagen said. Additionally, "the goal is to win skilled
professionals from the Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Audi and Porsche
brands for a transfer to the Car.Software organization," it
added.
The organization will develop software for connected cars and
devices, body and cockpit, automated driving, vehicle motion and
energy and digital business and mobility services, Volkswagen
said.
"The domains will cover the development work on one standard
vehicle operating system 'vw.os' for all group vehicles and their
connection to the Volkswagen Automotive Cloud, a standardized
infotainment platform, all assistance systems including highly
automated driving functions such as a motorway or parking garage
pilot in cars for end customers, software functions for connecting
the drive system, chassis and charging technology, and ecosystems
for all of the brands' mobility services and digital business
models," it added.
The new unit plans to invest more than 7 billion euros ($7.75
billion) in its tasks and projects by 2025. "Having a uniform
software architecture will enable Volkswagen to generate sizable
economies of scale in the group, substantially reducing per-vehicle
software costs across all brands," it said.
Write to Max Bernhard at max.bernhard@dowjones.com;
@mxbernhard
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 21, 2019 05:26 ET (10:26 GMT)
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